Who’s Bought Out-of-State and Regretted It?

Question

Hey BP fam 👋

Out-of-state investing gets talked about a lot — especially on YouTube, TikTok, and podcasts. But what I don’t hear enough are the real stories about when it didn’t go as planned.

So I’m curious:

👉 Who here has bought out-of-state and later regretted it?

• What went wrong?
• Would you do it again — or not at all?
• What would you tell someone considering it now?

I work with a lot of first-time investors who are debating between buying local vs. long-distance, and I try to help them make the right decision for their situation, not just the “trendy” one.

Would love to hear from people who’ve actually been through it — good, bad, or ugly. You might just save someone else a $20K mistake 🙏

Michael Smythe · Answer

Understanding what you are buying.

Investors are buying Class C properties expecting Class A results:(

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

I have funded over 3k out of state deals for investors since 2002. Including Chicago.

One thing I personally believe is investors get blinded by their stupid return calculators and only focus on the end number without taking into account RISK being location risk societal risk age of property risk and condition risks.

I have one tidbit of advice for OOS folks.. figure out the median price point of a the MSA you want to work in .. and buy at that price point or higher.. this generally indicates decent schools and decent rental pool and owner occs instead of buying in areas that are basically 100% tenant occupied or are quickly de gentrifying that way.

Also understand that positive cash flow after all expenses is not money you spend its money you plow back into the asset.. And of course PM can make or break you

Nagy Wassef · Answer

I agree with Ray. It's one thing to buy and see how the house performs, but it's another thing to buy and see how the property manager perform. We're now on property managers me and my wife and it's been doing so much better since. Everything is automated these days and it's so easy to find Handyman on different apps.

Ray Lin · Answer

I bought out of state and it was a big mistake because of the property manager. A few years later, I'm still buying out of state at a new market and I'm really happy. I learned from my mistake and chooses a better management company.

Who’s Bought Out-of-State and Regretted It?

Who’s Bought Out-of-State and Regretted It?

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